When asked Monday to assess SEC football in 2017 after Alabama has so dominated the league in recent years, former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville was quick to correct a reporter.

"The SEC hasn't just been Alabama and everybody else," Tuberville said. "The whole country has been Alabama and everybody else."

Tuberville is in his first season as a college football game analyst for ESPN, having "moved to the dark side" of the media, in his words. In Mobile Monday night to speak at the C Spire 1st & 10 Club, sponsored by Regions, Tuberville said he sees four legitimate contenders in the SEC this season.

"The four best teams in the league -- obviously you've got Alabama, then LSU, Auburn and Georgia," Tuberville said. "Georgia would have to be the frontrunner in the East, but you can't have any more injuries. That's why you can't predict anything at the beginning of the year. One or two or three injuries to key people will make you an average team really quick."

Tuberville has called two games for ESPN thus far, Appalachian State at Georgia in Week 1 and Utah at BYU in Week 2. But as part of the preparation for his new job, he's seen film on most of the other major-college teams in the country.

And he continues to be in awe of what Nick Saban has accomplished at Alabama. He said he thought the Crimson Tide was ready to take a step back in 2016 before proving otherwise.

"You win from January to August," Tuberville said. "The team that's got the best players is going to win. Nick's done a great job recruiting, but you've got to evaluate and develop them when they get there. I've seen a whole lot of five stars in my lifetime that wasn't a two-star. That's been Nick's forte, is going after the right ones and getting the right ones.

"I thought there was a little crack in the armor last year when they started. I didn't think they had a quarterback. Then Jalen Hurts walked out there, and made them so much better. Even two years before that, Nick was totally against going fast, all that kind of stuff. He changed his philosophy over night. That kid got them to the championship game singlehandedly on offense. It's kind of unfair now that Nick has got a quarterback that can run."

Nevertheless, Tuberville said he wouldn't have Alabama at No. 1 were he given a vote in the various college football polls. That honor would go to the team that knocked off the Crimson Tide in last year's College Football Playoff National Championship game.

As for the league's other contenders, Tuberville said he believes Gus Malzahn will succeed at Auburn if given the opportunity. He also noted that both Georgia and LSU made outstanding hires when they brought in Kirby Smart and Ed Orgeron, respectively.

Tuberville's belief in Smart and Orgeron stems from one facet, their ability to recruit in talent-rich states. He said he sees Georgia as the likeliest contender to Alabama's throne, unless it's LSU.

"At Georgia, Kirby's a great hire," Tuberville said. "He knows all the high school coaches in the state. He knows the lay of the land. Last year, they had a great recruiting class, just his first year going in. He will bring that program back. Not that Mark (Richt) didn't win games. But they couldn't get to the promised land. Kirby will put them competitive on the same level with Alabama.

"I think Ed Orgeron can do the same thing. He's got players in that state, and he's got so many good players in the Houston area. I think Ed Orgeron was a great hire. He's one of their own. He doesn't look like a head coach, doesn't act like a head coach, but he can recruit."

Along with Smart and Orgeron, Tuberville noted two other "good hires" in the SEC in the last two years. Neither was an on-field coach, but Tuberville said Florida hiring former coach Steve Spurrier as a consultant and Tennessee doing the same with Philip Fulmer has the potential to reap long-term benefits.

"They're not coaches, but they're somebody they can talk to, that knows that school," Tuberville said. "I think it was a great move to unite the people there. They want to help their school."